Waste Business Finds A Buyer Despite Lack Of Financial Details

Allied Waste Services Inc. has a number of landfills and waste collection centers in Canada that were put up for sale. The problem in this case was that there was a shortage of buyers because the company was unable to provide a financial picture of the waste services business. This sale only incorporated half of the business, and the landfills and waste collection centers were part of Browning Ferris Industries' Canadian operations. At this point, the Competition Bureau asked Allied Waste to sell some of the former Browning Ferris operations that were spread in different parts of the country. This new business did not have a complete financial picture. Therefore, even prospective buyers were unable to quantify the waste operations that were up for sale. Although each of the sites had its own financial picture, it could not be assured that all of them were generating the same numbers. Therefore, a US private equity firm that wanted to purchase the deal wanted Deloitte's Canadian transaction team to identify the exact numbers and operations of all Allied Waste Services landfills and waste collection centers. As part of this project, Deloitte had to deal with a number of concerns. For instance, they found financial numbers for each local operation but had no financial information to represent the entire business. No historical numbers for the landfill or wasteland being reviewed for investors to see historical trends. And there was no electronic system existed to support these tasks. Deloitte undertook this task and was able to come up with a recognizable solution.